Table of Contents

Inside the December 2007 Issue

Mommy’s Being Famous Right Now
When did the world’s most famous actress become a stay-at-home mother of three? As Julia Roberts stars in Charlie Wilson’s War, Jane Sarkin and Krista Smith get an intimate interview. Photographs by Michael Thompson. Web exclusive: a Julia Roberts photo retrospective.

Tate-á-Tête

Annie Leibovitz photographs the Tate museum’s American supporters—a Who’s Who of the art-world establishment.

The booming contemporary-art scene in Beijing and Shanghai is fueled by China’s new money, as well as record prices in the West. Barbara Pollack identifies the stars on this vast new canvas. Photographs by Jonathan Becker. Plus: a Web slide show.

Act of Atonement
Julian Broad and Ned Zeman spotlight Joe Wright, Keira Knightley, and James McAvoy, who are being faithful to Ian McEwan’s novel.

Richard Prince, famous for “re-photographing” magazine ads, has been called both joker and genius. While the Guggenheim cements his status as grand curator of Americana, the artist gives Steven Daly a tour of his private stash. Photographs by Mark Heithoff.

Pride of Lions
Richard Corman and Elissa Schappell spotlight 15 New York Public Library lions—from Martin Scorsese to Robert Caro—who were inspired in the stacks.

Portraits of a Marriage
Picasso’s first marriage, to Olga Khokhlova, became a brutal emotional conflict. In an excerpt from the final volume of his biography, John Richardson shows that it also produced some of the painter’s greatest work.

Michelle Phillips, sole survivor of the Mamas and the Papas, tells Sheila Weller of her many loves—including John Phillips, Warren Beatty, and Jack Nicholson—and few regrets. Photographs by Norman Jean Roy.

The age of the media gadget has one clear rule: Thou shalt steal. Michael Wolff wonders how any corporate warrior, even Steve Jobs, can conquer anarchy.

[The Verdict is Missing](/fame/features/2007/12/dunne200712)

Dominick Dunne concludes his coverage of the Phil Spector murder trial with details about the deadlocked jurors, the disappointing ending, and O.J.’s uncanny return to the media spotlight. Photograph by William Claxton. Web exclusive: Phil Spector, the V.F. coverage. -->

Every 48 years, in the remote state of Mizoram, vast swaths of bamboo bloom, spawning a biblical scourge of rats that devour everything in sight. Alex Shoumatoff reports on the race to avert a famine. Photographs by Steve McCurry.